New Fish Questions

[Sa777]

I own a 55g tank with driftwood, rocks, and plastic plants. It has been set up for nearly two months now and I have several questions about the fish I have stocked it with.
I have 6 silver dollars, 1 Senegal bichir, 1 sun catfish, 1 common plecostomus, and 1 pike cichlid. All the fish are very young, the largest being the catfish and the longest being the bichir. I am not 100% sure what species the pike is, the store had them labeled as "red pike" and mine does indeed have some red coloration on his top fin (dorsal?)
Anyway, all of the fish are healthy, I feed them tropical flakes, algae tabs (for pleco), frozen bloodworms, and occasionally crushed cichlid pellets. I put in some lettuce for my silver dollars when I first introduced them, but they barely even nibbled at it.
1. I read that silver dollars are vegetarian. If there are no vegetables in their diet, will there be health problems as a consequence?
2. Should I feed my pike live food? (ghost shrimp, minnows) I have heard from many that live food is bad for fish, but pike cichlids are natural predators, so would it benefit my pike if I fed him live food? If so, what lives foods are the healthiest/safest option?
3. How fast will my fish grow? I was considering selling my pleco if he gets huge to free up some space for the others, and I would like to feed my predators home grown live food. I need to get an idea of how soon to set up a guppy/ shrimp breeder.
Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out. Your opinions are greatly appreciated!

 

[superpeytonm]

I own a 55g tank with driftwood, rocks, and plastic plants. It has been set up for nearly two months now and I have several questions about the fish I have stocked it with.
I have 6 silver dollars, 1 Senegal bichir, 1 sun catfish, 1 common plecostomus, and 1 pike cichlid. All the fish are very young, the largest being the catfish and the longest being the bichir. I am not 100% sure what species the pike is, the store had them labeled as "red pike" and mine does indeed have some red coloration on his top fin (dorsal?)
Anyway, all of the fish are healthy, I feed them tropical flakes, algae tabs (for pleco), frozen bloodworms, and occasionally crushed cichlid pellets. I put in some lettuce for my silver dollars when I first introduced them, but they barely even nibbled at it.
1. I read that silver dollars are vegetarian. If there are no vegetables in their diet, will there be health problems as a consequence?
2. Should I feed my pike live food? (ghost shrimp, minnows) I have heard from many that live food is bad for fish, but pike cichlids are natural predators, so would it benefit my pike if I fed him live food? If so, what lives foods are the healthiest/safest option?
3. How fast will my fish grow? I was considering selling my pleco if he gets huge to free up some space for the others, and I would like to feed my predators home grown live food. I need to get an idea of how soon to set up a guppy/ shrimp breeder.
Thanks so much for taking the time to help me out. Your opinions are greatly appreciated!

1. I also have Silver Dollars. I don't think they will have health problems. Mine just nibble on live plants I have. But other than that they won't eat vegetables or other plants.

2. I don't know. People feed them live foods, but as you said many are not very healthy or nutritious. I wouldn't feed live foods. Just frozen or freeze-dried.

3. I've heard these fish in question grow quickly. However this depends on the fish, food, space, etc.

You are incredibly overstocked. Silver Dollars grow to 6 in and would be okay in your tank, however without many other inhabitants. Senegal Bichirs can grow to around 8-12 in. and don't do well with other bottom feeders. Sun Catfish grow very large and need at bare minimum 125 gallons. Just for one. Common Plecos grow to 12 in. As for the Pike Cichlid, I don't know, I'm not familiar with them.


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[sinibotia]

Live foods are fine as occasional treats- once a week at most IMO, except with fish that refuse to eat anything but. The thing with live foods is that they can easily transfer diseased to your fish. This can be mostly avoided by sourcing the live food yourself. Live food is also sometimes not very nutritious- again, this problem can be avoided by growing your own so that the food fish are healthy and robust. You can also give them nutritional supplements so that they have more nutrients for you big fish.

A heavily planted 20 gallon tank with a trio of guppies or a bunch of ghost shrimp would probably provide you with more than enough feeders once they get breeding.

Common plecos grow like weeds and your tank isn't nearly big enough for them. Pike cichlids will also outgrow your tank- most species need at least a 125 gallon tank. You need an upgrade. Your tank would probably still be at it's stocking limit with just the 6 silver dollars and the bicher.